As you step out your front door, you notice a brisk wind that makes you wish you had grabbed the jacket with the inner lining, the changing colors of the leaves, the carved pumpkins, and the Halloween decorations. That can only mean one thing…the snow is just a few days away! No. No. No.

The Residence Life Staff has put their heads together with the hopes of changing weekend programming and implementing ideas that will hopefully become lasting traditions for MAC. On Saturday, October 25th, they will host the First Annual Mount Aloysius College Harvest Fest. Activities will range from making homemade caramel apples, pumpkin carving, apple bobbing, carnival games, horror movie marathon and trivia contest, a haunted house, and a campus bonfire…just to name a few. Metz & Associates will also be sponsoring a special harvest themed menu for dinner.

The entire campus community is invited and is encouraged to watch for emails, flyers, and special announcements regarding Harvest Fest and the abundance of activities that will span the entire day.

God Bless,

Laura

Quote of the Day: "Confidence placed in another often compels confidence in return." -Livy

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If you have made your way into the Mount Aloysius Dining Hall as of late, you may have noticed the brand new napkin dispensers. But, are they really new? No. The new, blue dispensers are made of recycled plastic and the napkins themselves are made of recycled paper. This is just one step our Metz team has taken in the “green” direction.

What else do they have in store for the year?

The posters have been hung. The awareness buttons are being worn. The trays are being tossed and the food is being weighed. Metz. & Associates have initiated a new program for the “green-blooded” faculty, staff and students of MAC. Trayless Tuesdays and Weigh-In Wednesdays are just the beginning for the new environmental sustainability efforts being issued by the college.

In an effort to conserve water, Trayless Tuesdays are just that. For the duration of the Fall 2008 Semester, each month will observe one Trayless Tuesday. While the focus of going trayless lies in decreasing the output of water, it will also educate students, faculty and staff on portion control. Only eat what you can carry!

Like the trayless effort, Weigh-In Wednesdays will be observed once every month for the Fall Semester. Food that is thrown away and left on trays will be weighed and the pounds of waste per person will be calculated. The goal for this initiative is to become a less wasteful campus community. The wasted food itself will be recycled in two different ways. Waste that can serve as compost will be distributed to several local farmers, while the leftover food will be turned into organic bio-fuel.

Any student, faculty or staff member who is interested in the Mount Aloysius “Green Initiative,” should watch for e-mails regarding campus organizations such as MAC Goes Green and Radiate. See how YOU can make a difference!

God Bless,

Laura

Posted by Laura Deely at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On September 28th, the Mount Aloysius community came together to witness the Jeff Yalden experience. Yalden, who is an internationally renowned motivational speaker, works with MTV’s True Life and MADE programs. He is one of education’s most sought-after speakers and after his hour and a half in Alumni Hall, the students, faculty and staff of MAC knew why.

With his unique use of real-life situations and side-splitting comedy, Yalden’s message posed one main question, “Have we become a society focused more on rights and privileges than responsibilities and obligations?” With responsibility, there comes many challenges. Many were awestruck at the depth of Yalden’s insight into facing challenges, setting goals and finding a bigger purpose, and some were even brought to tears.

In conveying the message, “Don’t go where the path is already paved out,” Yalden discussed the importance of getting involved in as much as one possibly can at the college level. “Don’t just get your degree.” In order to benefit from the endless opportunities that await us at the end of the college experience, one must put their ego aside and learn from those who have gone before them, for it is their wisdom that aids in unraveling the sometimes complicated twists and turns that life inevitably takes. In response to this, Yalden stated that “Life is not complicated. I think we complicate life.”

In addition to his all-college address, Jeff Yalden also conducted a leadership seminar with 25-30 student leaders on campus. While this workshop was focused primarily on interacting with one another, building communication skills and developing teamwork strategies, Yalden challenged the group to “Take Time To Think.” The four T’s are designed to remind one to stop and analyze life every now and then in order to gain perspective on attitudes, choices that have been made, and the answers that lie within each person.

I had the privilege of meeting Jeff when I was in high school and was so happy to see him again and allow him to share his message with my peers here at MAC.

God Bless,

Laura

Quote of the day: “Attitude is everything. The good choices I make fill my cup or I lose. In order to make progress, make today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today.” –Jeff Yalden

John, Me, Jeff Yalden, Amanda and Susan

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